Trump lifts Alaska drilling restrictions

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Western Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning.

OIL & GAS

• The Trump administration rescinds Biden-era restrictions on oil and gas drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and opens the door for ConocoPhillips to explore and develop beyond its Willow project, drawing fire from environmental and Indigenous advocates. (news release, Inside Climate News, E&E News)
• Wyoming advocates accuse the federal Bureau of Land Management of violating environmental laws and defying a court order by issuing 200 drilling permits for a proposed 5,000-well project near Douglas. (WyoFile)
• Wyoming advocates push back against the federal Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to offer an oil and gas lease near a sage grouse mating ground, saying drilling would harm the biologically rich area. (WyoFile)
• New Mexico regulators reject an industry proposal to allow the reuse and discharge of treated oil and gas wastewater following allegations that Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan-Grisham had improperly influenced the proceedings. (Santa Fe New Mexican)
• A federal grand jury charges five men with stealing an average of 600 barrels of oil per day from Permian Basin facilities in New Mexico. (KRON)

UTILITIES

• Southern California Edison’s CEO acknowledges his utility’s equipment likely sparked January’s Eaton Fire in Los Angeles and promises swift payouts to victims that forgo lawsuits. (Los Angeles Times)
• Victims of the Eaton Fire call on California Gov. Gavin Newsom to require Southern California Edison to pay $200,000 to each household displaced by the blaze. (Pasadena Star-News)
• Colorado regulators require investor-owned utilities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 41% by 2035, drawing advocates’ praise. (Denver 7)

STORAGE

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom says the state has added 1,200 MW of battery energy storage to its grid over the last six months, bringing its total installed capacity to about one-third of what’s needed to reach its 100% clean energy by 2045 goal. (Los Angeles Times)

CLEAN ENERGY

• An Oregon auto magnate and a police union propose diverting about 25% of Portland’s clean energy fund to hire hundreds of new law enforcement officers. (OPB)
• A southern California municipal water district plans a solar-plus-storage project to offset its wastewater treatment center’s power use. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

GRID

• Oregon’s 25-year energy strategy calls for increasing buildings’ efficiency and investing in clean energy infrastructure, but unlike neighboring states is largely mum on developing new nuclear reactors. (Oregon Capital Chronicle)
• Two high-voltage transmission lines malfunction in Wyoming, leaving about 95,000 utility customers without power and possibly triggering a blaze at the Dave Johnston coal plant. (WyoFile)

ELECTRIFICATION

• Colorado’s Energy Office opens applications for its home electrification and appliance rebate program to incentivize electric stove and heat pump purchases and efficiency and wiring upgrades. (CPR)
• California startup Apparent develops a low-voltage direct-current residential water heater that can be run off-grid directly from solar panels. (PV Magazine)

TRANSPORTATION

• California regulators postpone a vote to reinstate Obama-era vehicle emission rules as a stopgap response to Congress revoking the state’s electric vehicle sales mandate, allowing them more time to consider public input. (E&E News)

MINING

• Wyoming’s mining officials celebrate the Trump administration adding uranium to the U.S. Geological Survey’s critical minerals list, saying it will boost the industry. (Cowboy State Daily)